Pull-to mechanism for rewinding and time setting a time-piece



March 26, 1957 o. VON AESCH ,78

PULL-T0 MECHANISM FOR REWINDING AND TIME SETTING A TIME-PIECE Filed Aug. 10, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 26, 1957 o. VON AESCH PULL-TO MECHANISM FOR REWINDINC AND TIME SETTING A TIME-PIECE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1955 m H m FIG. 72

Ll? [T United States Patent i PULL-TO MECHANISM FQR REWINDING AND TIME SETTING A TIME-PIECE Otto von Aesch, Fontainemelon, Switzerland, assignor to Fabrique dHorlogerie de Fontainemelon S. A., Fontainemelon, Switzerland, a firm of Switzerland Application August 10, 1955, Serial No. 527,597

Claims priority, application Switzerland September 18, 1954 3 Claims. (Cl. 58--67) My invention relates to a pull-to mechanism for rewinding and time setting a time-piece, of the type wherein a rockable spindle to which the pull-to member is secured may be shifted axially so as to engage said pull-to member inside a groove in the winding up stem or to release same. My invention has for its object to incorporate into such a mechanism a bolt movably fitted inside an opening formed in one of the surfaces of the movement of the time-piece and terminating with a nose engaging a groove in said rockable spindle, said nose being provided with two sloping planes of which one acts on one of the walls of the cooperating groove so as to shift the spindle outwardly whereas the second sloping plane acts on the opposite wall of the groove so as to urge the spindle inwardly.

I have illustrated by way of example in accompanying drawings two embodiments of my improved mechanism and four detail modifications thereof. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view from above of the first embodiment.

Figs. 2 and 3 are two cross-sections passing through line IIII of Fig. 1, and illustrating respectively two successive stages of operation.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section through line IVIV of Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate each a detail modification of said first embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a second embodiment.

Figs. and 11 are two cross-sections through lines X-X of Fig. 9 illustrating two successive stages of operation.

Fig. 12 is a cross-section through line XII-XII of Fig. 9.

ln Figs. 1 to 4, 1 designates the winding up and time setting stem while the lateral stud 3 on the pull-t0 member 4 engages a groove 2 in said stem. The pull-to member 4 is riveted to the end of the corresponding spindle 5 which extends orthogonally with reference to the member 4 and is adapted to rock inside the movement while it may be shifted axially with reference to the latter so as to urge the stud 3 into and out of the groove 2.

To control this axial movement of the spindle 5, the latter is provided with a peripheral groove 6 bounded by the transverse walls 13 and 14 and inside which the nose 7 of the bolt 8 is fitted (Fig. 3), said bolt being adapted to slide inside a slideway 9 formed on the surface of the movement on the side facing the bridge plate; said bolt 8 is provided with a tail piece 10 (Fig. 4) through which it may be actuated while its nose 7 is bounded by two substantially parallel surfaces 11 and 12 oblique with reference to the axis of the spindle 6, the sloping surface 12 extending into a fiat surface perpendicular to the said axis.

In those cases the bottom of which is formed in one with the peripheral wall the clockwork is introduced through the side of the movement which is to carry the glass, after which the winding up stem 1 is fitted in position. For this latter operation it is necessary for the pull-to member to assume the position illustrated in Fig.

2,786,327 Patented Mar. 26, 1957 3; this is provided by urging the bolt 8 towards the winding up stem out of the position illustrated in Fig. 2 so as to bring the sloping surface 11 on its nose 7 into contacting engagement with the wall 14 of the groove 6.

The winding up stem being in position, the pull-to member is returned into its position illustrated in Fig. 2, by moving the bolt 8 away from the winding up stem until the flat surface 15 on its nose holds it in its raised position. The tail-piece 10 through which the bolt may be shifted projects over the clockwork on the dial side and extends slightly beyond said dial.

Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate modifications in the bolt; the bolts illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 are constituted by straight or incurved blades respectively, while those illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 form forks adapted to engage the groove 6 to either side of the member 5, the modified bolt shown in Fig. 7-being rectilinear and that shown in Fig. 8 being incurved.

In Figs. 9 to 12 the same parts are designated by the same reference numbers, the structure and the operation of the different parts are also the same in the case of Figs. 1 to 4, with the difference however that the bolt 8 rocks in this embodiment round a tenon 16.

What I claimed is:

1. In a time-piece, a movement including a movement plate provided with a recess and a winding-up and timesetting mechanism inside the movement, including a pullto member, a rockable peripherally grooved spindle parallel with the axis of the movement, carrying said pull-to member and adapted to be shifted axially into and out of an operative position, a time-setting stem arranged radially of the movement and provided with a peripheral groove engaged by the pull-to member when the spindle is in its operative position, and a bolt movably engaging said recess in the movement plate and including a terminal nose engaging in the groove in the spindle and provided with two sloping surfaces of which one is adapted for one position of the bolt to engage one of the walls of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter into a position for which the pull-to member is operative and the second sloping surface is adapted for another position of the bolt to engage the other wall of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter away from last mentioned position into another position for which the pull-to member is inoperative and releases the groove in the stem, the first sloping surface extending into a flat surface perpendicular to the spindle axis and adapted, when the spindle is in its first mentioned position, to engage the corresponding wall of the groove in the spindle to hold the spindle in said position.

2. In a time-piece, a movement including a dial and a movement plate carrying same and provided with a recess and guiding means parallel with said movement plate, carried along one of its transverse inner surfaces, a winding-up and time-setting mechanism including a pull-to member, a short peripherally grooved spindle parallel with the axis of the movement carrying said pull-to member and adapted to be shifted axially into and out of an operative position, a time-setting stem arranged radially of the movement and provided with a peripheral groove engaged by the pull-to member when in its operative position, and a bolt slidingly mounted in said guiding means and including a finger-operable projection extending through the recess of the movement plate and projecting beyond the dial and a terminal nose engaging in the groove in the spindle and provided with two sloping surfaces of which one is adapted for one position of the bolt to engage one of the walls of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter into a position for which the pull-to member is operative and the second sloping surface is adapted for another position of the bolt to engage the other wall of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter away from last mentioned position into another position for which the pull-to member is inoperative and releases the groove in the stem, the first sloping surface extending into a flat surface perpendicular to the spindle axis and adapted, when the spindle is in its first mentioned position, to engage the corresponding wall of the groove in the spindle to hold the spindle in said position.

3. In a time-piece, a movement including a movement plate provided with a recess and a winding-up and timesetting mechanism inside the movement, including a pullto member, a short peripherally grooved spindle parallel with the axis of the movement, carrying said pull-to member and adapted to be shifted axially into and out of an operative position, a time-setting stem arranged radially of the movement and provided with a peripheral groove engaged by the pull-to member when the spindle is in its operative position, and a bolt movably engaging said recess in the movement plate, pivotally secured to a point of the movement and including a terminal nose engaging in the groove in the spindle and provided with two sloping surfaces of which one is adapted for one position of the bolt to engage one of the walls of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter into a position for which the pull-to member is operative and the second sloping surface is adapted for another position of the bolt to the other wall of the groove in the spindle to urge the latter away from last mentioned position into another position for which the pull-to member is inoperative and releases the groove in the stem, the first sloping surface extending into a flat surface perpendicular to the spindle ZEXlS and adapted, when the spindle is in its first mentioned position, to engage the corresponding wall of the groove in the spindle to hold the spindle in said positron.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 

